


What's So Amazing (That Keeps Us Stargazing)

by SandrC



Series: Not Another Fanfiction Collection [6]
Category: Not Another D&D Podcast
Genre: Character Study, Constellations, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-31
Updated: 2019-03-31
Packaged: 2019-12-29 17:45:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18299081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SandrC/pseuds/SandrC
Summary: Constellations have different names all across Bahumia but they're fundamentally the same in the end.





	What's So Amazing (That Keeps Us Stargazing)

**Author's Note:**

> Written in 30 mins at 3 a.m. at work because I had an idea I liked.
> 
> Constellations are fun. So is Rainbow Connection. I love the Muppet Movie (the OG one, though all are good in their own right).
> 
> I hope you find your pole star.

Somewhere, just outside of Irondeep, a young human man watched the night sky twinkle to life above him. With one hand, he traced a line from star to star to star, murmuring the name of the constellation he saw.

"Morthammer Duinn," he said to himself, "God of wanderers. He took his pack from beneath the mountain's core and carried it up to the sky himself, stating that any Dwarf lost could follow him as easily as they followed their hearts." His gaze lingered a step too long on the brightest star of the constellation. The world around him was so vast and intimidating. He almost felt small compared to it all. "Where would you have me go?"

But the stars didn't answer. They rarely do.

In the morning he packed his bedroll up and picked a random direction, unaware that the Dwarven gods had pushed him towards his fate. After all, constellations were just stories after all.

Nothing more, nothing less.

* * *

Somewhere in the Eastern Crick, a buxom Crick elf hung upside down on her stump, eyes scanning the sky that she could see between the dense foliage around her. A possum, small and ratty, squeaked at her and she gave him a crooked grin.

"There's Melora's Path, th'bright ones heading like so?" She gestured up and about at a series of bright stars, connected by invisible lines she was painting with her finger. "Wherever she walks, the green grows wild and strong. S'posedly, it's a way for us t'find our way. Follow the Path and your feet'll take you where you're needed." The possum let out a squeak of agreement.

"You really think we need t'go? That we'll find a cure?" The possum nodded and chittered at her. She smiled and pet his head. "Only coz you said so."

By dawnbreak she was gone, stump left empty and only footprints in the mud any indication she'd been there at all. And life moved on, as it does.

The green grew in her footprints, covering her path as it always does.

* * *

In Galaderon, in a nice second-story bedroom, a young halfling boy looked out his telescope at the night sky. Using small, controlled movements, he traced a constellation with his eyes, aided by the magnified lenses.

"The Escape of Brandoberis," the halfling said to no one, cataloguing each star in the constellation, starting with the brightest in the asterism. "The god of trickery, fleeing the scene of his great goof in the halls of Myrkule, eyes bright with wonder." He scribbled down something in a small notebook next to his telescope setup and then returned to looking. "Behind him are the flowers he picked to replace the souls of the dead trapped in the citadel. A reminder that luck and heart lead you to your greatest feats. To not fear death, even if you're heading to it. And to always laugh loud and proud."

The boy leaned back and sighed. In a few days he was gonna take a trip by himself and he was nervous.

But if Brandoberis could laugh in the halls of Death, then he could smile to feign strength for his mother. Even if it wouldn't last.

Besides, what's the worst that would happen on this journey anyway? The end of the world? Unlikely!


End file.
